Anthony Bernard
Encyclopedia
Anthony Bernard was an English conductor, organist, pianist and composer.
He studied with Joseph Holbrooke
, John Ireland
, Leonard Borwick
and Sir Granville Bantock
. He was appointed organist at St. Augustine's, Ramsgate in 1910. He worked in some other churches, and also became well-known as an accompanist to singers, such as Muriel Foster
, who retained him for the rest of her career, and John Coates
.
, the other invitees being Arthur Bliss
, Eugene Goossens
, John Ireland, Adrian Boult
, and W. H. "Billy" Reed
, leader of the London Symphony Orchestra
. The purpose of the meeting turned out to be Elgar's suggestion that Bliss, Goossens and Herbert Howells
each write a new piece for the 1922 Three Choirs Festival
, to be held in Gloucester
. Bliss's contribution was his A Colour Symphony
. Goossens wrote Silence for chorus and orchestra. Howells wrote Sine Nomine for wordless chorus (which was not given its second performance until his centenary year 1992). Elgar's own contribution was his orchestration of Bach
's Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 542.
(LCO), and led them in unfamiliar and better-known repertoire from the early masters through to contemporary composers such as Frederick Delius
. He also founded the London Chamber Singers. From 1922 to 1926 he conducted the Dutch Chamber Orchestra, and in 1926 he took the LCO on a tour of Spain. He conducted the British National Opera Company
in 1924 and 1925.
In 1927, he presented a festival of the music of Manuel de Falla
, in which the Harpsichord Concerto and Master Peter's Puppet Show
had their first performances in England; the solo part in the concerto was played by de Falla himself. In 1928 his orchestra became associated with the New English Musical Society. In 1929 he conducted the Arnold Dolmetsch
Ensemble's first complete recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
.
Anthony Bernard conducted the first recording to be released of Frederick Delius
's Sea Drift
(1929) with the baritone Roy Henderson and the New English Symphony Orchestra, and was praised by the composer's wife Jelka
for his conducting.
He also conducted the first concert performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams
's A Christmas Carol Suite, on 17 December 1929 in London. Lennox Berkeley
was another composer who entrusted the first performances of some of his works to Anthony Bernard.
for and directed productions of plays by William Shakespeare
and others. From 1932 to 1942 he was musical director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
at Stratford-upon-Avon
. His activities also included conducting orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Concerts Colonne
, and others in Copenhagen
, The Hague
, Madrid
, Athens
and Prague
. Later in life, he wrote a great deal of incidental music for radio plays. His other compositions include an organ prelude, Rorate Coeli (1916), Variations on a Hill Tune, for piano (1920), and songs.
Robert Simpson
dedicated his Symphony No. 2
(1956) to Anthony Bernard, who conducted the premiere performance with the LCO.
's Concert Allegro
, Op. 46, for piano solo. Elgar started to revise and shorten the piece after its first performance by Fanny Davies
in 1901, and even toyed with the idea of turning it into a piano concerto. These revisions were never finished, and the original version was never published. Elgar may have given the manuscript away; in any event, it was not found in his papers at his death, and was considered lost. In around 1942, however, Bernard was given the manuscript (by whom is not recorded), and was asked to arrange the piece for piano and orchestra. He thought it worked better as a solo piano piece, and did no work on his commission. The manuscript was still in his study when it was bombed during World War II, and it was assumed destroyed along with other papers of his. After his death, however, his widow came across the manuscript. It came to the attention of the pianist John Ogdon
and the musicologist Diana McVeigh, who together worked on it to extricate the original work from Elgar's crossings out, additions and changes, all made after Fanny Davies' first performance. Ogdon gave the first modern performance of the work in 1969.
Early life
He was born Alan Charles Butler, the son of a Thames lighterman and changed his name by deed poll in 1919 according to the National Archives.He studied with Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Charles Holbrooke was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney Wagner".-Family:...
, John Ireland
John Ireland (composer)
John Nicholson Ireland was an English composer.- Life :John Ireland was born in Bowdon, near Altrincham, Manchester, into a family of Scottish descent and some cultural distinction. His father, Alexander Ireland, a publisher and newspaper proprietor, was aged 70 at John's birth...
, Leonard Borwick
Leonard Borwick
Leonard Borwick was an English concert pianist especially associated with the music of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms.- Early training and debuts :...
and Sir Granville Bantock
Granville Bantock
Sir Granville Bantock was a British composer of classical music.-Biography:Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was a Scottish doctor. He was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service but was drawn into the musical world. His first teacher was Dr Gordon Saunders at...
. He was appointed organist at St. Augustine's, Ramsgate in 1910. He worked in some other churches, and also became well-known as an accompanist to singers, such as Muriel Foster
Muriel Foster
Muriel Foster was an English contralto, excelling in oratorio. Grove's Dictionary describes her voice as "one of the most beautiful voices of her time"....
, who retained him for the rest of her career, and John Coates
John Coates (tenor)
John Coates was a leading English tenor, who sang in opera and oratorio and on the concert platform. His repertoire ranged from Bach and Purcell to contemporary works, and embraced the major heldentenor roles in Richard Wagner's operas...
.
Career
In 1921 he was one of the people at a luncheon convened by Sir Edward ElgarEdward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
, the other invitees being Arthur Bliss
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...
, Eugene Goossens
Eugène Aynsley Goossens
Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens was an English conductor and composer.-Biography:He was born in Camden Town, London, the son of the Belgian conductor and violinist Eugène Goossens and the grandson of the conductor Eugène Goossens...
, John Ireland, Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, and W. H. "Billy" Reed
William Henry Reed
William Henry "Billy" Reed was an English violinist, teacher, minor composer, conductor and biographer of Sir Edward Elgar...
, leader of the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
. The purpose of the meeting turned out to be Elgar's suggestion that Bliss, Goossens and Herbert Howells
Herbert Howells
Herbert Norman Howells CH was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music.-Life:...
each write a new piece for the 1922 Three Choirs Festival
Three Choirs Festival
The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held each August alternately at the cathedrals of the Three Counties and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme...
, to be held in Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
. Bliss's contribution was his A Colour Symphony
A Colour Symphony
A Colour Symphony, Op. 24, F. 106, was written by Arthur Bliss in 1921–22. It was his first major work for orchestra and remains one of his best known...
. Goossens wrote Silence for chorus and orchestra. Howells wrote Sine Nomine for wordless chorus (which was not given its second performance until his centenary year 1992). Elgar's own contribution was his orchestration of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 542.
London Chamber Orchestra
That year Anthony Bernard formed the London Chamber OrchestraLondon Chamber Orchestra
The London Chamber Orchestra ' is the longest established professional chamber orchestra in the UK. Based in London, LCO has a residency at St John's Smith Square in Westminster.-History:...
(LCO), and led them in unfamiliar and better-known repertoire from the early masters through to contemporary composers such as Frederick Delius
Frederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
. He also founded the London Chamber Singers. From 1922 to 1926 he conducted the Dutch Chamber Orchestra, and in 1926 he took the LCO on a tour of Spain. He conducted the British National Opera Company
British National Opera Company
The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham Opera Company , which was disbanded when financial problems over...
in 1924 and 1925.
Notable performances
He conducted the first performance of Christian Darnton's Octet for flute, clarinet, bassoon, cornet and string quartet, on 26 March 1927.In 1927, he presented a festival of the music of Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
, in which the Harpsichord Concerto and Master Peter's Puppet Show
Master Peter's Puppet Show
El retablo de maese Pedro is a puppet-opera in one act with a prologue and epilogue, composed by Manuel de Falla to a Spanish libretto based on an episode from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The libretto is a faithful adaptation of Cervantes's text, from Chapter 26 of the second part of Don...
had their first performances in England; the solo part in the concerto was played by de Falla himself. In 1928 his orchestra became associated with the New English Musical Society. In 1929 he conducted the Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch , was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey...
Ensemble's first complete recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Brandenburg concertos
The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 . They are widely regarded as among the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era...
.
Anthony Bernard conducted the first recording to be released of Frederick Delius
Frederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
's Sea Drift
Sea Drift (Delius)
Sea Drift is among the larger-scale musical works by the composer Frederick Delius. Completed in 1903-1904 and first performed in 1906, it is a setting for baritone, chorus and orchestra of words by Walt Whitman.- The poem adaptation :...
(1929) with the baritone Roy Henderson and the New English Symphony Orchestra, and was praised by the composer's wife Jelka
Jelka Rosen
Helena Sophie Emilie "Jelka" Delius was a painter, and wife of composer Frederick Delius.-Life and work:...
for his conducting.
He also conducted the first concert performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
's A Christmas Carol Suite, on 17 December 1929 in London. Lennox Berkeley
Lennox Berkeley
Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley was an English composer.- Biography :He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford...
was another composer who entrusted the first performances of some of his works to Anthony Bernard.
Other activities
In 1930 he organised a festival of Italian music from the 11th to the 20th centuries. He performed similar services for French music and was later honoured by the French government for his services. He also conducted opera both at home and abroad, and wrote incidental musicIncidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for and directed productions of plays by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and others. From 1932 to 1942 he was musical director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
at Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
. His activities also included conducting orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Concerts Colonne
Concerts Colonne
The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne.-History:While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead a series of popular concerts which he founded under the...
, and others in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Later in life, he wrote a great deal of incidental music for radio plays. His other compositions include an organ prelude, Rorate Coeli (1916), Variations on a Hill Tune, for piano (1920), and songs.
Robert Simpson
Robert Simpson (composer)
Robert Simpson was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music , and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells...
dedicated his Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 2 (Simpson)
The Symphony No. 2 by Robert Simpson was completed in 1956 and dedicated to Anthony Bernard, conductor of the London Chamber Orchestra, though the first performance was in fact given by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli in 16 July 1957 at the Cheltenham Festival.This is one of...
(1956) to Anthony Bernard, who conducted the premiere performance with the LCO.
Bernard and Elgar
Anthony Bernard played a role in the story of Edward ElgarEdward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
's Concert Allegro
Concert Allegro (Elgar)
The Concert Allegro, Op. 46 by Sir Edward Elgar is a piece of music for solo piano. It takes about 10 minutes to perform. It is the only piano work he wrote that was designed for concert performance...
, Op. 46, for piano solo. Elgar started to revise and shorten the piece after its first performance by Fanny Davies
Fanny Davies
Fanny Davies was an English pianist who was particularly admired in Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, and the early schools, but was also a very early London performer of the works of Debussy and Scriabin...
in 1901, and even toyed with the idea of turning it into a piano concerto. These revisions were never finished, and the original version was never published. Elgar may have given the manuscript away; in any event, it was not found in his papers at his death, and was considered lost. In around 1942, however, Bernard was given the manuscript (by whom is not recorded), and was asked to arrange the piece for piano and orchestra. He thought it worked better as a solo piano piece, and did no work on his commission. The manuscript was still in his study when it was bombed during World War II, and it was assumed destroyed along with other papers of his. After his death, however, his widow came across the manuscript. It came to the attention of the pianist John Ogdon
John Ogdon
John Andrew Howard Ogdon was an English pianist and composer.-Biography:Ogdon was born in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, and attended Manchester Grammar School, before studying at the Royal Northern College of Music between 1953 and 1957, where his fellow students under Richard Hall...
and the musicologist Diana McVeigh, who together worked on it to extricate the original work from Elgar's crossings out, additions and changes, all made after Fanny Davies' first performance. Ogdon gave the first modern performance of the work in 1969.
Recordings
His recordings were numerous. They included:- Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
's Piano Concerto with the composer as soloist - the BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
Double Violin ConcertoDouble Violin Concerto (Bach)The Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and Continuo in D Minor, BWV 1043, also known as the Double Violin Concerto or "Bach Double", is perhaps one of the most famous works by J. S. Bach and considered among the best examples of the work of the late Baroque period. Bach wrote it between 1730 and 1731...
with Yehudi MenuhinYehudi MenuhinYehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
and Gioconda de VitoGioconda de VitoGioconda de Vito was an Italian-British classical violinist. -Life:...
http://cd.ciao.co.uk/Yehudi_Menuhin_The_Violinist__6196876 - Hans HotterHans HotterHans Hotter was a German operatic bass-baritone, admired internationally after World War II for the power, beauty, and intelligence of his singing, especially in Wagner operas. He was extremely tall and his appearance was striking because of his high, narrow face, wide mouth, and big, aquiline nose...
singing Bach with the Philharmonia OrchestraPhilharmoniaThe Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
http://www.jsbach.org/bernardcantata82.html - Lois MarshallLois MarshallLois Catherine Marshall, CC was a Canadian soprano.In 1967, she was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. She was a Graduate of the University of Toronto....
in HandelGeorge Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
and HaydnJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
with the London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00005NBWS - the Water MusicWater Music (Handel)The Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements, often considered three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717 after King George I had requested a concert on the River Thames...
and Royal Fireworks Music of Handel, again with the LSO http://www.goodnoise.com/album/Various-Artists-Handel-Water-Music-The-Royal-Fireworks-Music-MP3-Download/10979308.html - Richard LewisRichard Lewis (tenor)Richard Lewis CBE was a Welsh tenor.Born Thomas Thomas in Manchester to Welsh parents, Lewis began his career as a boy soprano and studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music from 1939 to 1941...
, Alfred DellerAlfred DellerAlfred George Deller CBE , was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularizing the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th Century....
, and Norman WalkerNorman Walker (bass)Norman Walker was an English bass singer, distinguished for his work in both opera and oratorio.- Early development :...
singing PurcellHenry PurcellHenry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000005D0P - and accompanying Teresa Stich-RandallTeresa Stich-RandallTeresa Stich-Randall was a European-based American soprano opera singer.-Biography:Teresa Stich-Randall was born in New Hartford, Connecticut in 1927 and studied at The Hartt School in West Hartford....
in Handel, MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
lieder. http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000004CCZ